While
planning this project I didn't really spare too much thought on this
object. I was mainly conserned to find out weather the fabric had a
twill or a plain weave. You can imagine my surprise, when we opened the
box and found this beautiful woolen pattern woven textile inside it!

The petticoat came to the museum in 1903 from Heinäjoki, Yläne. The
c. 46 cm wide pieces of fabrics are sewn from selvedge to selvedge,
forming a hem of 228 cm. It's 93,5 cm long at the center front, and the
width is pleated and gathered to a waist strip that is 75,5 cm long and
1,7 cm wide. The hem is leghtened with several narrow strips of fabric.
The feel of the fabric is a little stiff, but surprisingly light wool
camlet.

As
far as I can remember, I have not encountered this particular garment in
any publication I've read. Since few extant jacket and petticoat
outfits of pattern woven wool damask have been preserved here in
Finland, it might not be a stretch to think that originally this
petticoat had a matching top too.

The design of the pattern is very similar to the red fabrics used for a jacket and a "livstycke"...
(See the links at the end of this post) And just guess where one can
find an example of a similar textile in blue? From the same place of
course: Sweden!

The type of the fabric here would have been labeled under sc. estoffer.
This seems to have been a sort of an umberella term for patterned
woolen fabrics. These were very popular during the rococo and also
produced in Sweden. According to Pylkkänen, the quality of these fabrics
varied and they were known under such different names as flannel,
camlet, satin, shalong, and droguet to name a few (although she does ot
go into too much detail on the distinction between these). Perhaps the
last mentioned droguet fits best with the pattern on the blue petticoat,
since silk droguet's with similar designs can be found from both Turku Museum
Centres and Nordiska museet's collections.

According
to Nordiska, this particular type of fabric was also known as
"Norgetyg" in many areas of Sweden, including Dalarna. It was considered
to be a Norwegian commodity - but it might have originally been an
English product that was sold to Sweden via Norway. Apparently it's use
was still relatively rare in common womens garments during the 18th
century, but it came more common after the turn of the 19th century.

1700-luvun
silkkidroguet'n uudistuotantoa. Alkuperäinen kangaspala on
todennäköisesti peräisin Johan Anders Meurmanin silkkikutomosta, joka oli
aktiivisimmillaa 1760 - 85. A reproduction of an 18th century silk
droguet. The original textile was likely produced in Stockholm in the
silk manufactory of Johan Anders Meurman, that was active from 1760 -
85. Duran Textiles: http://www.durantextiles.com/siden/nackros_grey.html

Kuviokudottujen
villakankaiden kuviot seurasivat useimmiten aikakauden muotisilkkien
kukkamalleja ja toimivat ehkä eräänlaisina kukkasilkkien korvikkeina
pienporvariston- ja kansannaisille. Tutkimus vihjaa, että säätyläistöä
palvelleet piiat sovelsivat ajoittain säätyläispuvun piirteitä omaan
pukuunsa. Hameen sopii siksi hienosta materiaalistaan huolimatta myös säätyläisnaisen piian vaatevaraston osaksi.The
designs in these pattern woven wool fabrics followed the fashionable
silks of the day and in a way substituted the forbidden silks in the
wardrobes of the common women and the women of the petite bourgeoisie.
Research suggests, that the servant women who served the upper classes
sometimes adapted features of the upper class dress into their own wardrobes. Thus, this particular petticoat is not out of place in a gentlewoman's maids wardrobe.

Helmaa on pidennetty useilla paloilla ja huoliteltu kapealla nauhalla. The hem has been lenghtened with several strips of fabric and neatened with a narrow strip. Kuva / Photo: neulansilmanlapi.blogspot.fi

I'm glad you found it interesting! I was so exited to discover this garment. Who knows how long it had been in that box. I find worsted fabrics very interesting too, and I think there is a lot to research there. I've worked on and off in the museum branch for years, but at the moment I'm busy with other things :-)